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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Aaron Brooks' peace offering to Ryan Appleby (both pictured here), was the only thing that Brooks was denied on Saturday.

Saturday's game also marked the first time Brooks and Washington's Appleby were on the same floor since Brooks was ejected from a Pac-10 Tournament game last season for intentionally hitting Appleby in the mouth with an elbow.

Brooks, who wrote a letter of apology to both Appleby and Washington coach Lorenzo Romar while in the locker room following his ejection, was given a two-game suspension for the blow, which included the Ducks' game in Seattle on Jan. 25. The Huskies won that game 89-77.

"He didn't want to shake my hand, that's on him," Brooks said. "I can't dwell on that. We had a basketball game to win."

Appleby's rejection before the game drew a loud reaction from Oregon's "Pit Crew" student section.

The Oregon guard and Seattle native scored 30 points to lead the Ducks (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today; No. 23 AP) to a 93-85 win against the reeling Huskies.

Only one regular season game left as the Beavers come to Eugene next Saturday (3 pm -TV OSN).

Saturday, February 17, 2007

For those of you who have been following my personal Hatfield & McCoy story, a fellow who lives off of Coburg Road purchased the hot tub late yesterday afternoon. I will be working all day with him taking it apart and moving it to his house. If you feel up to the challenge and would like to help just give me a call.

Friday, February 16, 2007

When Oregon erased California's eight-point halftime lead in the opening minutes of the second half Thursday night and built a lead of its own, the game looked like a repeat of the first meeting between the teams.

Then Ryan Anderson delivered the big plays Cal has lacked in recent weeks. Anderson's three-point play with 1:01 remaining helped the Golden Bears snap a six-game losing with a 63-61 victory over No. 15 Oregon.

Cal (13-12, 5-8 Pac-10) held Oregon (20-6, 8-6) scoreless for the final 4:31 of the game -- including misses by Bryce Taylor and Chamberlain Oguchi in the final seconds -- to win for the first time since Jan. 18 at Oregon State and the first time in eight games this season against ranked opponents.

The Ducks didn't score for the final 6:08 of the half and Joevan Catron's layup was their only basket in the final 9:23. On their final 10 possessions, the Ducks committed three turnovers, missed seven 3-pointers and didn't shoot a single shot from inside the arc.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Chip Kelly, an assistant at Division I-AA New Hampshire for 14 years, has been named the new offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Kelly replaces Gary Crowton, who was Oregon's offensive coordinator for two seasons and installed the Ducks' spread-option offense. Crowton left for the offensive coordinator's job at Louisiana State.

Most recently Kelly served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Wildcats, who averaged 35.3 points per game and 401 yards of offense this past season.

"First of all, this is exciting because of everything I've heard about the football program at the University of Oregon," Kelly said. "It's just a dynamic place. Secondly, the opportunity to coach in the Pac-10, which I believe to be one of the top conferences in the country."

Kelly, 43, has been offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at his alma mater since 1999. His offenses have averaged more than 400 yards of offense for seven of the last eight seasons.

"My philosophy has been to coach an attacking style of football and stretch the defenses in as many different ways as you can," Kelly said. "You have to get the ball into the hands of your playmakers and let them operate in order to be successful."

University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer today announced Pat Kilkenny as his choice to lead the university’s athletic department.

“I selected Pat because he is clearly best able to provide an immediate impact to the University of Oregon athletic department,” Frohnmayer said. “Pat Kilkenny has had a very successful career leading a major private insurance agency, knows the University of Oregon intimately, has strong leadership skills, solid relationships with donors and supporters, and will hit the ground running to help make the Oregon athletics program one of the most successful in the country.”

Friday, February 09, 2007

The freshman point guard scored 24 points to lead the Ducks (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) to a 55-51 win Thursday night against a resilient Arizona State team looking for its first league win of the season.

Porter was 8-for-12 from the field with six 3-pointers as he scored his most points since breaking the Oregon single-game record for a freshman with 38 points against Portland State on Nov. 12.

"Tajuan stepped up," said Brooks of his 5-foot-6 teammate. "He played big today. He played 6-5 today."

Maarty Leunen added nine points and Malik Hairston had eight for the Ducks. Still, it was enough to give the Ducks (20-4, 8-4 Pac-10) their fourth 20-win season in 12 years under head coach Ernie Kent.

#24 Arizona comes to town on Saturday at 12:30pm (TV - ABC). Oregon will need to be sharper, have fewer turnovers and shoot the ball better to get a victory. Hopefully everyone will get on track.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

USC held on to win todays game in what turned out to be very close in the final minutes. The Ducks had 2 chances in the last few seconds but missed both 3 point attempts by Oguchi and then Brooks.

Oregon shot a dismal 33% from the field compared to USC's 61%. The reason the Ducks even had a chance in this game was the second half defense and their tenacious rebounding the whole game.

Aaron Brooks led Oregon with 16 points followed by Tajun Porter with 15 and Malik Hairston with 14. Oregon falls to 3rd in the PAC-10 race and will be home next weekend to face Arizona St. on Thursday (5:30 pm - OSN) and then Saturday against Arizona (12:30 pm - ABC).

We need to kick some serious butt next weekend to get into a good rhythm for the final month of action.

Friday, February 02, 2007

UCLA put together two strong halves and avoided the kind of collapse that cost the Bruins in their previous game. The Bruins' defense repeatedly shut down Oregon, with the Ducks coming up empty on field-goal attempts to start the second half.

Bryce Taylor scored 17 points to lead Oregon, off to its best record in 80 years. The Ducks' five starters came in averaging double figures, but Brooks was the only other player to do so with 14.

Oregon needs to come out strong on Saturday against USC (locally on KEZI @ 12:30 pm)to stay in the Pac-10 race. In all three of their losses, the Ducks have allowed opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor. Defense will fuel an Oregon victory and earn them a split on this road trip. We'll see if they can pull it off.